More wait time as art school job is delayed

Work to stabilise the west gable of Glasgow School of Art’s fire-damaged Mackintosh building has fallen behind schedule due to recent bad weather.

Art school chiefs had hoped the work would be completed by this Sunday, but they have now said weather conditions have delayed the completion date until Sunday 21 October. It means workers at businesses inside the safety cordon put in place following the fire on 15 June will not be able to finally get into their workplaces as they had hoped after this weekend.

The premises affected – the Centre for Contemporary Arts and local businesses Bagel Mania, News 4U and Paint & Mortar – have been informed of the delay.

Glasgow School of Art said contractors had been working “flat out” to stabilise the building, but in the past week two days were lost because the cranes cannot be operated in high winds. More bad weather is expected over the next few days.

School director Professor Tom Inns said: “We want to keep the delay to a minimum, but safety has to be the priority. The cranes have been working and will continue to work whenever there is a window in the weather, but they cannot be operated safely in high winds.”